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Updated: May 24, 2026
07:37
Measuring the Flight Ability of the Ambrosia Beetle, Platypus Quercivorus (Murayama), Using a Low-Cost, Small, and Easily Constructed Flight Mill
Published on: August 6, 2018
Loss of flight promotes beetle diversification.
Hiroshi Ikeda1, Masaaki Nishikawa, Teiji Sota
1Department of Forest Entomology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan. hiroshiikeda@affrc.go.jp
Nature Communications
|February 17, 2012
Summary
Losing the ability to fly accelerates the creation of new species in insects. Flightless species show greater genetic differences and speciate twice as fast as those that can fly.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Speciation
- Insect evolution
Background:
- Flight is a key innovation driving insect diversification.
- Many diverse insect groups include flightless species.
- Flight loss may increase speciation rates due to reduced dispersal.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if flight loss accelerates allopatric speciation.
- To compare genetic differentiation and speciation rates between flightless and flight-capable lineages.
- To determine the role of flightlessness in beetle diversification.
Main Methods:
- Studied carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) to assess flight loss and speciation.
- Analyzed genetic differentiation among populations of flightless and flight-capable species.
- Conducted a meta-analysis of 51 beetle species across 15 families.
- Compared speciation rates in flightless versus flight-capable states.
Main Results:
- Flightless carrion beetles exhibit higher genetic differentiation and more distinct lineages than flight-capable species.
- The speciation rate in flightless lineages is double that of flight-capable lineages.
- Meta-analysis confirms higher genetic differentiation in flightless beetles compared to flight-capable ones.
- Flightlessness has repeatedly evolved in beetles, potentially driving their diversification.
Conclusions:
- Loss of flight accelerates allopatric speciation in insects.
- Flightlessness contributes to genetic divergence and lineage formation.
- Repeated evolution of flightlessness may be a significant factor in beetle diversification.
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